Kicking Off 2018 — Staying Focused on Justice

Jan 6, 2018

By Donna Smith, Executive Director – for the PDA National Team

It’s 2018, and thank goodness we are getting closer to the mid-terms when we expect to take back the House and gain more seats in the Senate. The Trumpublicans seem intent on allowing the drama and ridiculousness of the Trump White House to largely unchallenged as they manage their standard-bearer with adoration and praise.

Meanwhile, an extremely damaging and dangerous right-wing agenda is marching forward. As we step up to elect strong, progressives later this year, we will also keep our attention turned on resistance and insistence. We will resist the assaults on economic and social justice, and we will insist on sound policy that protects and uplifts all of us as equals.

This first week of 2018 saw many of PDA’s chapter leaders planning their activities to include Congressional visits both in-district and in D.C. Others are stepping up their plans for action on specific issues critical to PDA — and to all of us — including a clean Dream Act, protecting Social Security and Medicare, gaining co-sponsors for bills we support, and working with allies as much as possible to build progressive power. PDA is proud to stand with so many existing and new organizations to magnify our collective impact.

In the meantime, we hope you will use your precious resources to magnify our chances for success. The past year has required a huge amount of engagement on multiple fronts, and there is no sign that 2018 will be different. That is a good thing for us — fired up, engaged and committed people are powerful and valuable. Please donate today, and please consider stepping up your own engagement in 2018.

“Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it it the only thing that ever has.” That famous quote belongs to the late Margaret Mead, cultural anthropologist. The citizens she referenced are you and me. We are changing this world — together.